CARLSBAD: Diagonal crosswalk downtown slashes wait time for walkers

A walk to the beach from downtown Carlsbad got a little bit quicker this week as the city's first diagonal crosswalk was installed at the busy intersection of Carlsbad Boulevard and Carlsbad Village Drive.

City workers restriped the pavement and reprogrammed the intersection's traffic signals Wednesday afternoon.

On Thursday, many pedestrians appeared baffled and then thrilled by the changes.

"I've never seen a diagonal before," a man from Missouri told his wife as they watched people walk directly across the center of the intersection while all vehicle traffic paused.

Another guy said he was eager to give it a try. When the pedestrian crossing sign changed from the "wait" red hand to the white "walk" pedestrian symbol, he told his companion, "Let's go!" and charged across the center.

"I like this better, actually," one woman said as she made the crossing.

City Deputy Transportation Director Bryan Jones said the crosswalk "separates the conflicts (between motorists and pedestrians)."

And this is a place where there is plenty of potential for conflict. City traffic studies show that 30,000 to 35,000 vehicles and up to 6,000 pedestrians pass through the intersection every day.

With the new signal programming, vehicle traffic now stops in all directions after a pedestrian pushes the "walk" button. The pedestrian can then walk from the northeast corner of the intersection right through the middle of the intersection to the southwest corner, without needing to cross each street individually.

In order to accommodate the change in pedestrian activity, vehicle traffic also is now barred from making right-hand turns on red lights at the intersection, Jones said.

If the new crosswalk system works out well, city officials might try diagonal crosswalks in a few other downtown spots ---- areas where pedestrian traffic is particularly intense.

However, some people said Thursday they found the change at the downtown intersection frustrating ---- particularly those who had no interest in going diagonally across both streets.

When the traffic light turned green on Carlsbad Boulevard and vehicles started moving, they expected their pedestrian walk sign to change too, but the red hand remained.

One man waited a moment for the crosswalk sign to change, then he shrugged and crossed anyway, his companion trailing reluctantly behind him.

Jones said he expects that people will need time to adjust to the change.